


Bloody Hell

by AussieBookworm



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Based on a Tumblr Post, Friends to Lovers, Heed the graphic depictions of violence warning, M/M, Vampire Shane, a dude fucking gets stabbed to death with a stake, and theres a very violent fight, blood sucking, fighting to the death, how did this happen?!, i usually write fluff, modern vampires, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 14:50:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13367010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AussieBookworm/pseuds/AussieBookworm
Summary: One of the gifts of being bitten by a vampire, Shane supposed, was his improved hearing. For example, he could hear Jen quietly humming a song she claimed she hated, Quinta having a conversation with her mother about her father’s surprise birthday party, and Ryan leaving a meeting room and walking over to him.***Shane is a vampire and Ryan starts getting a bit too close to the truth, completely by accident





	Bloody Hell

_The forest was silent. The different species inhabiting the forest were either getting ready to retire for the night or start hunting. The villagers had claimed that the forest was haunted. Screaming at all hours of the night, people disappearing, and the dark landscape caused the villagers to warn that those go on midnight strolls through the forest would not return. On the rare occasion that one returned alive, they returned with a major injury and a story about a monster chasing them. At first, the villagers believed it was a bear picking off midnight visitors one by one. Then later, during one of the worst snowstorms of all time, a young gentleman returned with a broken arm and the tale of a tall man, who killed his travelling companion with nothing but his teeth. The villagers didn’t enter the forest of a nighttime after that. Only the foolish did so, risking their lives._

_One of the foolish, sprinted through the forest, trying to escape her pursuer. The foolish one was screaming, as loud she could, hoping that someone would come to her aid and protect her from the foul beast hunting her. But deep down, she knew no one would come. She knew that no one else was as foolish as her to come into the forest with the moon high in the sky._

_The beast giving chase to the foolish leapt into the sky and grabbed onto a tree branch on his way down. He climbed onto the branch, ensuring he was not about to fall. Once stable, the beast leapt to the next tree branch. And the next one. And the next one. The beast did this with terrifying accuracy and speed, for this was something he did often. Finally, the beast overtook the foolish. The beast got ready to pounce until the foolish was directly underneath him. He then struck - jumping from his tree branch onto the foolish, tackling her to the ground. “This would have already been over if you had just submitted.” The beast hissed to the now screaming foolish one. The beast leant down and felt around the foolish one’s neck, ignoring the screams. As soon as he felt the racing heartbeat of his victim, he bit the foolish one’s neck. The foolish make a gurgle of pain before falling to the ground. The beast gave a toothy grin and began to suck his victim’s blood dry. Once the meal was over, the beast stood up and wiped his mouth. With the ease of a child carrying a doll, the beast lifted the dead one and walked through the forest, until the forest reached its end and was replaced with a rocky cliffside. The beast threw his victim off the cliff nonchalantly, before turning to look at the stars before him. They had changed so much since he was a young boy. Everything, to be honest, had changed so much since he was a young boy. The beast turned and walked back to his dwelling, sated from his early meal_

***

One of the gifts of being bitten by a vampire, Shane supposed, was his improved hearing. For example, he could hear Jen quietly humming a song she claimed she hated, Quinta having a conversation with her mother about her father’s surprise birthday party, and Ryan leaving a meeting room and walking over to him. Ryan wasn’t speaking or making any sound a human would be able to hear normally. The dead giveaway it was Ryan was his fast heartbeat that occurred whenever he looked at Shane. Shane didn’t react until Ryan sat next to him, grinning. He recalled the meeting was about the next episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved, so Shane deduced that his stupid grinning could only mean one thing. He just had a location approved for visitation.  
“Where are we going this time? Don’t tell me we’re doing a demon location this soon?” Shane said, taking his headphones off and leaning back in his chair.  
“Not this episode, thankfully,” Ryan stated. “But we are deviating from doing ghosts.”  
“Doing ghosts?” Shane asked in a teasing tone.  
“You know what I mean!” Ryan tried defending himself.  
“Ryan, I thought you just wanted proof. I didn’t know you wanted to bone the ghosts!”  
At this point, Ryan was laughing so hard his signature wheeze had come out. Shane grinned at the joy on his best friend’s face.  
“What are we… unsolving this week that isn’t a ghost or a demon? Bigfoot again?” Shane asked.  
“It’s too soon for your family reunion. No, this week, we’re going to Texas-”  
“Texans are the biggest cryptids out there.”  
Ryan started wheezing again.  
“Shut up! We’re visiting a vampire hunter!”  
Shane’s heart skipped a beat. Ryan wanted to take Shane -a vampire- to a vampire hunter. Ryan didn’t know how Shane’s dietary requirements, but to say Shane was worried was an understatement.  
“A what?” Shane asked, hoping Ryan hadn’t noticed anything. “Ryan, you don’t actually believe in vampires, do you?”  
“Personally, I don’t,” Shane relaxed a little. “but this guy believes in them. I may believe in vampires after this.”  
Shane tensed up once again.  
“I’m thinking this will be another Bloody Mary situation,” Ryan said, facing Shane.  
“I doubt this dude will be as cool as her,” Shane said calmly.  
“We’ll see.”

***

Shane was silent as he took a sip of his drink. The elevator in his apartment was broken, so Shane was forced to quickly climb up the building one handed to make it to the rooftop garden. Sure, he could have taken the stairs, but taking the stairs wasn’t as exhilarating as climbing his apartment building with the agility of a cat.  
“Figured you might be up here.” Shane heard a voice behind him say.  
He flinched and turned to see his neighbour Sara looking at him. Sara had a special gift, allowing her to be extremely quiet when walking around. It was especially annoying seeing how Shane couldn’t even hear her when she even just walking behind him.  
“Sara.”  
“Whatcha drinking?” She asked, sitting down next to Shane.  
“Oh, just some Plasma Pop. Want some?” Shane offered the drink to Sara.  
“Urgh, yes, please. I ran out of A Positive Bites this morning and I’ve been craving burgers and rare steak.”  
Shane laughed as Sara took a sip of the soda.  
“You kids and your fake products.”  
“Oh hush grandpa. We all didn’t have the luck to be bitten before the common era.”  
“It kept me fit, excuse you. Believe me, chasing meals is more exhausting than P90.”  
Sara snorted.  
“How the hell have you stayed so young after all these years? The council are the oldest and they look like they’ve been through hell and back.”  
Shane shrugged.  
“Would not surprise me if they have. I’m next in line to be apart of the council and I look so young compared to them.”  
Sara leaned in conspiratorially.  
“What’s your secret Madej? How have you kept your skin so smooth after all these years?”  
Shane gave a cheeky wink, like he was a showman, overselling a product.  
“Why, let me let you in on my skin care technique.”  
Shane leant into Sara and booped her nose.  
“Virgin blood,” Shane whispered.  
Sara smiled.  
“Virgin blood, huh? That hard to come by?”  
“Not if you have people actively sacrificing virgins to you to keep you sated.”  
“And you say young vamps have it easy.”  
The two chuckled.  
“I mean, every month there was some idiot trying to either kill you or debunk you, so…”  
“Speaking of idiots trying to debunk you, Did Ryan tell you where you two are going next week?”  
Shane leant back and watched the sprawling skyline of LA.  
“Nice segue. Yeah. A vampire hunter. Goody goody gumdrops.” Shane said with sarcasm dripping from his words.  
“You could say no,” Sara suggested. “Or claim you have family issues going on. Or fake your death. Or pretend to be sick.”  
Shane looked at Sara.  
“What was the middle one?”  
“Claiming you have family issues going on?”  
A brief bout of silence fell over the two vampires before they started laughing.  
“I’m not sure,” Shane stated. “I’m hoping he’s not the real deal.”  
“And if he is?” Sara asked.  
“Then I will do one of the aforementioned activities. But it won’t come to that.”  
“Just be careful. I heard that vamp communities in Texas are more hidden than others.”  
“Duly noted. Now can I have my Plasma pop back now?”  
“Get your own.”  
“That was mine!”

***

Shane managed to survive the plane without too many issues. Sure his legs were a bit cramped, but he more or less survived. As soon as the plane took off, Ryan fell asleep on Shane. Shane didn’t think the human intended to do so but left him alone for the three-hour flight. Soon the plane landed and the duo made it to their hotel for the next couple days. It wasn’t anything too fancy, but it was a place to rest. The vampire hunter was supposed to pick the entire crew up and take them to dinner. While waiting for the hunter, the two decided to unpack. As Shane was unpacking his chargers, Ryan asked him a question; “What do you think, Shane?”  
Shane turned to face Ryan who was sitting on his bed.  
“Huh?”  
“I know you probably think this guy is bullshit.” Ryan continued.  
“Not unlike the rest of your guys,” Shane interjected, taking a seat.  
“Ha. Ha. But do you think that vampires might exist?”  
Shane’s heart sped up once more.  
“Vampires? The only vampire I know of is the one on Sesame Street that teaches you how to count.” He tried playing it cool.  
That response earned a pillow being thrown at him from across the room.  
“Be serious!” Ryan insisted while laughing.  
“But, Ryan, how can I be serious when I’m Shane?” Shane said, glad to be moving away from the question about the legitimacy of vampires.  
“Alright, if we come across a vampire, I’m letting you get eaten first.” Ryan decided.  
Despite himself, Shane laughed.  
“What if the vampire has a blood type preference? Did you ever think about that Ryan?”  
“Uh…”  
“No, because you’re a jerk!”  
“Real mature,” Ryan said, rolling his eyes.  
He sat back and looked at Shane for a few seconds.  
“Hey, uh… what’s your blood type?” Ryan asked.  
“Why?”  
“Just so I know what to yell to the oncoming vampires so it’s more likely for them to attack you more than me.” He teased.  
“Red.”  
“Shane!” Ryan yelled, reaching across to grab Shane’s pillow.  
“Fine, fine,” Shane quickly said to avoid getting another pillow to the head. “A negative. You?”  
“B positive.”  
“I’ll try to, man.”  
Ryan chuckled.  
“Aren’t you dad jokes central this evening?” Shane shrugged.  
“Must be the plane trip.” Shane shrugged.  
Ryan opened his mouth to reply before someone knocked on the door to the hotel room. Ryan abandoned the pillow and stood up. He walked over to the door and opened it. An old man was standing there. His skin was wrinkled and scaly. He would have looked just like an ordinary old man if it weren’t for the long scar going through his eye. He smiled, seeing Ryan open the door.  
“Howdy. Ryan and Shane?” He asked with a gravelly Texan accent.  
Shane thought the howdy was a bit too much but said nothing.  
“That’s us!” Ryan beamed. “Nice to meet you Mr…”  
“Call me Dusty. Nice to meet you two. I think we agreed to have dinner together before coming to my house tomorrow?”  
“Yes sir!”  
“Y’all ready to go?”  
Dusty looked into the room to see Shane still sitting in his chair. Ryan grinned.  
“Sure thing! I’ll just get the rest of the crew.” Ryan walked past Dusty and headed to the hotel room the camera crew were staying, leaving Shane alone with Dusty.  
Shane stood up and held out his hand.  
“Shane, nice to meet you, Dusty.”  
Dusty looked at Shane.  
“Nice to meet you, too.” He finally said after a while.

***

The place Dusty had in mind for dinner was an Italian restaurant. It wasn’t too fancy, but it also wasn’t too plain. It exuded the right amount of rustic hospitality to make it a popular restaurant. The Buzzfeed Unsolved crew and Dusty were sitting at a table large enough for all five of them. Shane was reading his menu when Ryan closed his menu and spoke up.  
“So, what are you planning to show us tomorrow, Dusty?” He asked.  
Dusty looked up at Ryan.  
“Some ways to find out vampires, how to kill vampires, some traps, some of my trophies,” Dusty said like he was reading off a shopping list.  
Shane, who was taking a drink whilst Dusty was talking, almost spat his drink out in surprise.  
“Trophies?” Ryan asked, curious now.  
“Yes sir,” Dusty confirmed. “A few mounted heads, a few trinkets like pocket watches, the likes,” Dusty commented nonchalantly.  
“Mounted heads?” Shane spoke up.  
“In the movies don’t vampires shrivel up and die when killed?”  
Dusty grinned.  
“That’s what the movies want you to think. Vampires don’t disintegrate unless they’ve been in the sun.”  
Shane paused.  
“Huh. I guess the movies are way off.” He tried saying in a calm voice.  
Much to Shane’s relief, a waitress finally came over to the table and asked if everyone was ready to order. Dusty looked at the rest of the table, smiling.  
“Do y’all mind if I order a big ol’ plate of pasta for the entire table?” He asked.  
The crew locked eyes with each other. Without saying anything, Shane, Ryan, and the camera crew nodded happily. Dusty chuckled and ordered.

Soon enough, the plate of pasta soon arrived. The plate was large enough to take up the majority of the table. Dusty grinned.  
“Dig in.”  
The others had no hesitation, as they started piling up pasta on their plates. “This is really good!” Ryan enthused with his mouth full of food. Shane laughed and took a bite of the pasta. Immediately, Shane knew something was wrong. He coughed quietly, silently chastising himself for being so careless.  
“You alright, man?” Ryan asked, concerned for his friend.  
Shane said nothing and waved over a waiter.  
“Hi, sorry. Um… I just want to know what’s in this dish?”  
Everyone at the table looked at Shane and waiter, saying nothing.  
“Pasta, parsley, garlic-”  
“Shit, I’m allergic to garlic,” Shane interrupted.  
“Do you need me to call an ambulance sir?” the waiter asked.  
Shane shook his head as he stood up from the table.  
“I have to go,” Shane turned to Dusty before clearing his throat. “It was nice meeting you, Dusty. I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
Dusty, the only calm one at the table nodded.  
“You too, Shane.” He said stiffly.  
“Shane?” Ryan asked, obviously worried.  
“I’ll be at the hotel,” Shane quickly explained. “Don’t worry about me.”  
As soon as Shane had finished, he whirled around and ran out of the restaurant and started running towards the hotel. 

As soon as he was out of sight of the restaurant, Shane sped up, making it to the hotel faster than any human would be able to. He fumbled with the hotel room keys before unlocking the door and slamming the door behind him. Shane tripped over his legs as he made it to his carry on luggage and fumbled with the first pocket. He finally freed a packet of red tablets. With them secure in his hand, he ran into the bathroom and locked the door. First Shane took a big gulp of water from the tap before spitting it out. He repeated it five times before he shakily freed one of the pills. He popped it into his mouth and took a drink. Panting, Shane looked up at his reflection. His skin was a light shade of grey and his eyes were bloodshot. Shane cursed and bared his teeth. He cursed once more, noticing that his canines were sharper than normal. Shane sighed before he started feeling sick. Shane stumbled over to the toilet before heaving into it. Nothing resurfaced, making Shane feel a sense of unease. He hit his stomach, hoping to make something, anything, come up. Nothing once again. Shane was in agonising pain, but he could do nothing. Instead, Shane sat against the cool tiled wall of the bathroom and breathed in. He fumbled for his phone and texted Sara.

 **Shane:** Hypothetical question: What does one do when one has eaten garlic, taken the VV pill, and nothing has come up. Asking for a friend  
**Sara:** …  
**Sara:** Shane, what the fuck?  
**Shane:** Hypothetically  
**Sara:** How much garlic was ingested?  
**Shane:** No clue. I had a small bit a pasta and had a reaction  
**Sara:** Vampire Health says if that happens, it’s most likely not enough is there to regurgitate  
**Shane:** That good?  
**Sara:** Well, it's extremely unlikely you’re gonna die  
**Shane:** Oh thank the gods  
**Sara:** What happened?  
**Shane:** Kind of obvious  
**Sara:** You wouldn’t do that purposely. That vampire hunter tricked you?  
**Shane:** ...I’m not sure  
**Sara:** Shit. Is he legit?  
**Shane:** Not sure. See if you can pull anything up about him. His name is Dusty  
**Sara:** Not a lot to go on. I’ll try to check the schedule for his last name.

Shane was jolted into action by hearing someone knock on the bathroom door. Shane said nothing, slowly getting to his feet. He silently got ready to make a stealthy escape when he heard Ryan call his name. Shane breathed a sigh of relief as he unlocked the bathroom. Ryan was looking at him, out of breath and holding his key to the room, a bottle of water, and a bag of Shane’s favourite human chips.  
“Ryan.” He breathed out, smiling.  
“You alright?” Ryan asked, concern gracing his face.  
His heart was still beating fast, but if that was from running to the hotel, seeing his best friend run off claiming he was having an allergic reaction, seeing Shane, or a mixture of all three, Shane wasn’t sure.  
“You just suddenly ran off. We were worried about you.”  
Shane swallowed.  
“I’m fine.” He croaked out.  
Ryan turned to place his hotel key on the table behind him. Shane moved to sit on his bed.  
“How you feeling?” He asked, uncapping the water bottle and handing it to Shane.  
Shane took a big sip.  
“Better than I was eating that pasta,” Shane replied, stealing the bag of chips out from Ryan’s arm.  
“I should have mentioned that I was allergic to garlic. I ruined dinner.”  
Shane popped open the chips and ate one.  
“It wasn’t ruined,” Ryan said, sitting next to Shane and stealing a chip. “We still enjoyed dinner. I just left early because I was worried about you.”  
Shane tried hiding the blush crawling up his face.  
“Sorry.”  
“Stop apologising. It’s fine, big guy,” Ryan smiled and reached over for the remote. “Wanna see if there's anything good on TV?” He asked, shaking the remote.  
“Yes, please.”

***

Shane stared at Ryan, sleeping across from Shane in his own bed. People said that people were supposed to look younger when they slept. In Ryan’s case, that was true. His lips were partially open with quiet breaths coming in and out. He looked smaller somehow. Ryan’s heart wasn’t as erratic in his sleep. It was a nice and soothing rhythm. Whenever Ryan looked at Shane, or whenever he had to share a room with Shane, or whenever he hung out with Shane, his heart sped up, ever so slightly. It sped up differently to when the two were exploring a ‘haunted’ location. Those heartbeats were fast and full of fear like his heart was about to burst out of his chest. Shane much prefered the heartbeats Ryan did when he looked at Shane. Shane came up with a few reasons why Ryan’s heart always sped up when looking at him. The scientific reason was that Ryan had a heart condition. Unfortunately for Shane, he didn’t know how to tell Ryan to see a doctor without blowing his cover. A somewhat romantic reason was that Ryan got butterflies whenever he saw Shane. Out of all the hypotheses Shane had come up with so far, it was definitely his favourite. Shane quietly put two fingers up to his neck and felt for his heartbeat. He was soon able to find it. To say that Shane was surprised his heart was still going after all these years was an understatement. Hearts fail in vampires, but the body was still able to survive. Whilst the vampire keeps living and going about their regular life, Shane had been told it wasn’t the same without having a constant heartbeat. Shane ran his tongue to his teeth and noticed that his canines weren’t as sharp as before. Whenever some vampires felt scared or threatened, their canines would grow, making it easier to attack. Shane was one of these vampires. Other vampires had their teeth grow naturally and had to visit the dentist every month to file their fangs down. His teeth were extremely sharp when ready to attack. They could tear open human’s necks without any resistance. He had lost count how many throats he had torn open just to sate his hunger. Shane looked at Ryan once more. Shane sighed and closed his eyes. If Dusty was a real vampire hunter, he’d need his sleep for tomorrow. 

***

_A servant quietly closed the door behind them and walked down the corridor. His master was lying down in bed, pretending to sleep. The master waited until he deduced no one was near his bedroom. The master got out of bed, past his used walking stick, and towards his drawers. He quietly pulled out clothing belonging to the middle class and put it on quickly. Turning to his bed, the master made his bed, in an effort to ease his nerves. Once the bed was neat, the master walked over to his desk and pulled out a blank piece of parchment, an inkwell, and a quill. The master sighed quietly and dipped his pen in the pot. He started to write, with shaky script; “I have gone out for a walk. Do not look for me, for I do not intend to return. All my wealth is to be split evenly between my servants and the orphanage in the village. Signed, Lord Bristol.” Lord Bristol read over his letter before walking over and putting the letter on the bed. He turned and picked up his discarded nightclothes, before opening his window and jumping out._

_Lord Bristol hit the ground with the grace of a trained gymnast. He stretched before breaking into a fast sprint. Trees flew past the nobleman as he ran, not looking back. Finally, Lord Bristol slowed down and peered past the edge of the forest at the quiet port before him. He quietly folded his bedclothes and put them underneath a bush. Lord Bristol swallowed in anticipation and walked out of the forest. Soon enough, Lord Bristol found what he was looking for. A ticket booth for boat trips. He walked up and cleared his throat, alerting the youth behind the counter of his existence. The youth looked up from his book and stared at the stranger. Deciding on a rough and accented voice, Lord Bristol stated; “One ticket to America, please.”_

***

Shane was awoken by his alarm going off. He groaned, hit snooze, and rolled over in his bed. He heard a chuckle from across the room.  
“Shane, you kinda gotta get up,” Ryan said. “We promised we’d meet up with Dusty for the shoot at 12.”  
Shane groaned and pulled the covers up more.  
“I want to sleep.” He replied voice muffled from the covers.  
He heard Ryan stand up and walk towards his bed.  
“Shane, get up,” Ryan said, shaking Shane slightly.  
“Nooooooo. I have become one with the covers.” Shane mumbled in reply.  
“You’re insufferable,” Ryan said, affectionately. “The garlic didn’t hurt you that much, did it?” He asked, his tone changing to a concerned one.  
Shane sat up and rubbed his eyes.  
“No, I’m just tired.”  
Ryan looked at his co-host, a bit surprised.  
“We can skip today if you want-”  
“No,” Shane said with a firm tone, getting out of bed. “I’m fine. Let me just get changed.”  
“You may also want to drag a comb through that hair as well,” Ryan suggested.  
Shane reached over for his glasses and saw the birds nest that was his hair.  
“I think I’ll keep it. It’s a new fashion craze.”  
Ryan laughed as Shane walked over to his bag and got his clothes for the day out. 

***

Dusty stood outside his house, grinning at his visitors. Ryan and Shane hopped out of the hire car and went over to shake Dusty’s hand.  
“It’s nice seeing you too, again. Glad to see you’ve recovered from last night.” Dusty said, staring at Shane.  
All Shane could do was nod. On the car ride to Dusty’s house, Sara sent him a text.

 **Sara:** If there’s any way to cancel this visit. Do it now. This guy is the real deal

Shane really couldn’t reply to that so he just pocketed his phone. Now that he was outside the house of the man who could easily murder him without a second thought, Shane was starting to regret saying he was fine this morning. Dusty walked over to the door and opened it.  
“Come on in.” He welcomed.  
Shane noted the welcoming and walked inside. As soon as he was in, he quickly ducked to the side, out view of the hallway. He hoped it wasn’t too fast to tip off his human counterparts, but it seemed no one - not even Dusty - had noticed. Ryan walked into the house and looked around. He noticed the hallway covered in mirrors quickly.  
“Why the mirrors Dusty?” He asked, turning to the vampire hunter walking behind them.  
“So I can detect if it’s a vampire coming into my house disguised as a guest. Those mirrors are pure silver, unlike the aluminium ones you find nowadays,” Dusty grinned. “Vampires can be seen in the aluminium mirrors. Silver? Not so much”  
“I thought it was just a reflection thing,” Shane said, finally finding his voice, hoping his confusion could throw the hunter off.  
“I thought we agreed yesterday that most movies with vampires are just bullshit, Shane,” Dusty said, eyes narrowing in Shane’s direction.  
Shane broke out into a cold sweat.  
“Right, sorry,” Shane said weakly.  
He cleared his throat before speaking again.  
“When I think about the vampires, I generally think of the ones Hollywood spits out. Hey, speaking of Hollywood, do you know if vampires sparkle in the sun like in Twilight?”

***

Must to Shane’s relief, the interview passed without any hassles. As far as Shane was aware of, he hadn’t outed himself during the interview, which was a consolation.  
“Would you two like to see a vampire trap?” Dusty asked once the interview had passed.  
Ryan, the enthusiastic person he was, jumped at the opportunity, but Shane was still sceptic.  
“I think I’ll pass this time. I… um… need to check up with the camera crew on the filmed footage and replace some batteries while I’m at it.” He lied.  
“Suit yourself,” Dusty said, before leading Ryan down the hallway of mirrors and going upstairs. 

Shane breathed a sigh of relief and got his phone out of his pocket. He needed to get back to Sara. She picked up on the second ring.  
“Shane! You didn’t respond to my text! I thought you died!” She cried.  
“Sorry, sorry. We’re still at the house.”  
“Okay, I have a feeling this is gonna be a very one-sided conversation. You are so lucky I have a day off today.”  
“Just… this guy looks like he knows what he’s doing. He claims silver mirrors are the ones vampires can’t be seen in?” Shane ended his statement like a question to make it seem like he was still sceptic.  
“Yikes. This guy is good. Um… Ryan texted me yesterday saying you had an allergic reaction. He obviously didn’t know of our convo. How you feeling?”  
“Better. It was a dish ordered by him I think he suspects me now.”  
“Ryan?”  
“Sara,” Shane said with a monotonous voice.  
“Well, you can’t be sure!” Sara defended herself. She stopped. “Where’s Ryan now?”  
“He’s upstairs looking at a trap with Dusty. I gave it a hard pass.”  
“Can you hear them?” Sara asked, obviously worried.  
“Faintly. It’s a heavily insulated house. Do you know-”  
Shane stopped hearing muffled yelling and a thump from upstairs.  
“Shane?” Sara asked, jolting Shane into action.  
“I gotta go. If I don’t come back, the key to my storage locker is underneath the fern in my living room. Make sure no one ever finds my collection.”  
“Okay! Good luck! Don’t die!” 

***

As soon as the phone was hung up and in his pocket, Shane raced upstairs, no longer worried about the mirrors revealing his biggest secret. Without tripping on any steps, he crashed onto the landing and looked around for the source of yelling. Shane pushed the closest door open, revealing Ryan on the other side, being choked by Dusty, who was yelling at Ryan. Ryan’s face was turning blue, frightening Shane to no end.  
“Let him go!” Shane roared, alerting the two of his presence.  
Dusty gave a lazy smile.  
“You finally decided to come. How lovely.”  
As soon as he finished his sentence, Dusty let go of Ryan, who fell to the ground. Shane stepped into the room, blocking the doorway.  
“Ryan, behind me.” He ordered.  
Ryan was looking at Shane with fear. Dusty laughed.  
“I’m not so sure about that, Drac.”  
Dusty raised a wrinkled finger and pointed to the mirror next to Shane. A mirror missing the most notable thing about a mirror - its reflection. Shane growled and looked back at the two humans.  
“Ryan. Get behind me. Now,” Shane ordered, once more. “I’m not going to hurt you.”  
Ryan said nothing, staring at the two others, before running behind Shane, shaking.  
“I figured you’d use your mind control,” Dusty said, conversationally.  
“Not everyone has that skill.” Shane snarled.  
Dusty smirked before pulling a wooden stake out of a holster on his belt. He stared at Shane with murder in his eyes. Shane glanced behind himself to look at Ryan.  
“Ryan, grab the camera crew and get out of here.”  
“Why?”  
Shane turned back to Dusty.  
“Something is about to go down that I would prefer you not see.”  
Suddenly, Dusty charged Shane, yelling triumphantly. Shane quickly leapt out of the way.  
“NOW!” He roared.  
Dusty quickly grabbed Shane’s wrist and tried stabbing him in the stomach. Shane retaliated by dodging and twisting Dusty’s wrist. While trying to escape Shane, Dusty reached back and pulled back a curtain, revealing sunlight streaming into the room. Much to Dusty’s chagrin, the sunlight did not affect Shane, who was still dodging out of the way of Dusty’s stabs. Dusty lunged forward and grasped a hand around Shane’s neck. Whilst trying to free himself from the hunter’s grip, Shane fell backwards on an old bookcase. Dusty quickly let go of Shane to avoid falling over too. The shelf Shane crashed into snapped in half, the items on the shelf falling to the ground. Thinking quickly, Shane picked up the heaviest book and threw it at Dusty. Dusty dodged to the side as the book flew through the air. Shane tried again with another book with the same results. Dusty scrambled to grab the second book and held it in front of him to show Shane the cross on the cover. Shane growled, ran towards Dusty, and managed to knock the book out of his hands. Dusty lunged forward and jabbed the wooden stake towards Shane. Shane feinted backwards and leapt forward to grab one of the vampire hunter’s hands. Whilst trying to escape this position, Shane noticed that Dusty’s left side was unprotected and open. Taking a chance, Shane whirled around and kicked Dusty powerfully. The force behind the kick was strong enough to send Dusty flying across the room. The cupboard boasting the silver mirror broke from the force, sending splinters to scatter everywhere. The mirror was shattered, showing a cracked duplication of the bedroom. Dusty laid in the carnage of the wardrobe, groaning in pain. Shane walked over to Dusty and picked him up by the throat. Shane grabbed the stake out of Dusty’s now weak hands. Shane dropped Dusty to the ground, making the hunter groan in pain more. He stood above Dusty, before dropping down and straddling Dusty.  
“How many have you killed?” Shane asked, calmly.  
“Fuck you.” Dusty wheezed out.  
“Answer me!” Shane yelled. “How many of my kind have you murdered?!”  
Dusty chuckled despite the position he was in.  
“Twelve.”  
Shane laughed. It started out small but slowly grew louder and more crazed. He leaned in close to the vampire hunter.  
“Twelve is a very small number. I’ll give you a little tip, seeing how you don’t have long left,” Shane said, almost cockily. “There are a lot more than 12 of us.”  
Dusty growled. Shane sighed dramatically.  
“And now?” He quizzed. “An eye for an eye.”  
Shane took a deep breath in before raising the stake and burrowing the tip into Dusty’s chest. The man made a strangled sound of pain.  
“One.” Shane snarled.  
Shane raised the stake once more and returned it to Dusty’s stomach.  
“Two.”  
Shane exhaled, further driving the stake into Dusty’s abdomen.  
“Three.”  
Shane repeated this action multiple times, all the while counting upwards.  
“Twelve!” Shane finally cried out, ending his counting.  
Dusty laid on the floorboards, unmoving. Shane couldn’t hear any heartbeats, but whether it’d be because of Dusty’s demise or the ringing in his ears, Shane couldn’t tell. Shane lowered his head and let out a loud exhale of breath, he didn’t even know he was holding. Shane stood up swiftly and soon noticed he was covered in blood. Breathing heavily, Shane surveyed the damage he’d done to the vampire hunter. Something primal in him made him feel hungry. Shane licked his lips without noticing. He was jolted out of his daze by a strangled cry coming from outside the room. Shane turned, ready to take on more vampire hunters, but stopped, seeing Ryan curled up into a ball, looking at Shane in disbelief. Shane was too engrossed in the fight to have noticed that Ryan hadn’t left.  
“Ryan…” Shane said in a hoarse voice.  
“Shane?” Ryan asked, fear evident in his voice.  
Shane stumbled for a response.  
“I’m… I’m not going to bite him,” Shane finally croaked out, fear also evident in his voice. “Or drink his blood.”  
“Shane?” Ryan asked again, obviously in shock.  
“I’m not dangerous, I swear!” Shane yelled.  
“Shane!” Ryan this time cried out.  
“I’m…” Shane stopped. “I’m gonna go.”  
Shane turned around and stumbled to the window. He opened it and jumped out with the grace of swan.  
“Shane!” Ryan cried out behind him, standing up, running over to the window, and watching his friend retreat. 

***

Ryan closed the hotel room door behind him after a busy afternoon of police questioning. He sighed and turned back to the room to see Shane on the pacing while talking on the phone. He noticed Ryan come in and lifted one finger to say hold on. Ryan walked over to the chair at the desk, turned it to face Shane, and sat down.  
“Mmhm,” Shane said to the person on the other side.  
After a pause, Shane looked exasperated.  
“Is he dead?! I put a stake through his heart twelve times. Vampire or no, he’s probably dead.”  
Ryan shivered slightly at the last sentence. There was another pause.  
“No clue. I fled as soon as I could. One second.” Shane put the phone down. “Did you call the police?” He asked Ryan.  
Ryan stared at Shane before silently and slowly nodding.  
“Excellent.” He said, putting the phone up to his ear again.  
“Police were called to the scene. Assuming your guys can fix it?”  
There was silence.  
“I thought so. Yes.”  
Shane froze. He looked at Ryan, assessing the human. He sighed.  
“One witness. Human. I’d prefer to try and explain it to him before the council tries and wipes his memories.”  
Ryan tensed up, eyes wide at what he was hearing. Shane nodded.  
“Yes. Do alert the council but be sure to let them know we would like the hearing back home and a little bit later.”  
Shane nodded.  
“Mmhm. That sounds good. Thank you for all your help. Goodbye.”  
Shane hung up the phone and sat down on his bed. Ryan watched him like a hawk. Shane sighed and pocketed his phone.  
“You probably have a lot of questions.” He stated.  
“I do,” Ryan said in a quiet voice.  
“Let them at me.” Ryan paused, trying to figure out which question was best to start with.  
“Who were you on the phone with?”  
“The VSTX. Vampiric Society of Texas.”  
“What do they do?”  
Shane sighed.  
“Long story short, they are the civil servants of the vampire world. Or at least the vampire world of Texas. They make sure relocations go smoothly, new identities are issues seamlessly, any vampiric crimes are judged, all that jazz.”  
“Is there an LA one?”  
“Yeah, the VSLA. They do the same stuff but for LA vampires or visitors.”  
Ryan looked at Shane who was running a hand through his hair. He watched his friend carefully, afraid of something. Suddenly, as if It couldn’t be avoided anymore, Ryan asked the question he worrying about all afternoon.  
“Are you going to hurt me?” He blurted out.  
Shane looked at Ryan, eyes wide in shock.  
“Ryan, I’m not gonna hurt you,” He said, locking eyes with his friend.  
He put a hand behind his head.  
“I… I figured I should explain myself.”  
“Explain what?!” Ryan snapped. “That my best friend is a blood-sucking vampire?!”  
Shane said nothing and looked at his reflection in the hotel mirror. His reflection looked saddened and forlorn.  
“Ryan, please hear me out.” He said in a strangled voice.  
Ryan sighed and dropped his angry act.  
“Fine. But you have a lot of explaining to do.”  
Shane smiled, obviously grateful.  
“I know. Thank you.”

***

“So,” Shane started. “In case it’s not obvious, I’m a vampire.”  
Shane paused as if waiting for a reaction. When he didn’t get one, he continued.  
“I can’t remember how long ago I was born, but it was definitely before the common era. I used to be human before I got bitten. I… uh... am one of the oldest vampires today. I know over 18 languages, three of which are dead languages. I have lived in over 50 different countries, some of which no longer exist. I’ve lost count how many identities I’ve used. I have been declared everything from an Earl to a lowly servant. And... you’re giving me a look like I am crazy.”  
“I’m not,” Ryan replied.  
“Ryan, your mouth is hanging open.”  
Ryan shut his mouth, opened it, and shut it again.  
“If… you’re a vampire… I’ve seen you in the sun. How’s that possible?” Ryan asked.  
“Ah.” Shane acknowledged before standing up and walking over to his bag.  
He felt around the front pocket for a bit until he pulled out a tube of something.  
“Sunscreen?” Ryan asked.  
Shane nodded and shrugged, returning it to his bag and sitting back on the bed.  
“It’s heavy duty so I don’t burn in sun. Made by vampires, for vampires.”  
Ryan paused.  
“You can do that?”  
“Took years of experimenting, but we figured it out.”  
“So… the other night at the restaurant…”  
“Yep. I don’t know why it works like that, but I think it’s because garlic was used to cure diseases way back when. I’m not 100% sure.”  
“Can a wooden stake kill you?”  
“That’d kill anyone, but yeah.”  
“Do you sleep in a coffin?”  
Shane started laughing loudly. Ryan’s cheeks flushed slightly as his friend laughed at his question.  
“Ryan, no,” Shane wheezed.  
He wiped a tear away and clutched his stomach.  
“Ryan, oh my god. Ow. My belly. Um… A couple vamps did that ages ago and that’s where that myth came from. I think it was a part of a cult or something.”  
Shane started laughed again while Ryan watched on. Shane snorted.  
“I’m sorry. It’s been a long day and I just find that really funny.” He said, leaning back on his bed.  
He sighed loudly.  
“I needed that. Thank you. Any more questions?”  
Ryan hesitated.  
“Do… do you have to be welcomed into houses?”  
“Nah. It’s very old propaganda. Humans think that we need to be invited in. We, on the other hand, can break in at any time.”  
“Old?” Ryan asked, ignoring the last sentence.  
“Well… vampires don’t suck human’s blood anymore. It’s seen as barbaric. These days vampires have separate supermarkets hidden underneath the human ones. It’s full of vampire products.”  
Ryan gave a sigh of relief and loosened up, no longer afraid that Shane was about to suck his blood.  
“True or false?” Ryan asked with renewed vigour. “You can’t cross running water?”  
“False!” Shane played along. “Greek vamps, Chinese vamps and people who were bitten by the aforementioned vampires can’t cross running water, but I can cross running water.”  
“True or false? You burn when you see a cross.”  
Shane shrugged.  
“It depends on who you were bitten by. Crosses do affect me, but it’s more of an annoying itch.”  
“True or false? You can turn into a bat.”  
Shane started laughing again.  
“False. Definitely false.” He said between laughter.  
“True or false? Silver has an effect on you.”  
“Actually, true. Like with the crosses, doesn’t affect me too much. Vampires tend to avoid silver, but as long as it’s not touching too much of the body, we’ll be fine. Again, I don’t know why, but I’m pretty sure it has something to do either greek gods or purity and holiness. Any would work.”  
“So the mirrors at Dusty’s place...?”  
“The reason I couldn’t be seen. But in these mirrors, I can see this handsome face.”  
Shane winked at the hotel mirror and made fingers guns. Ryan said nothing as he stood up and walked over to Shane. Next thing Shane knew, he was getting hugged by Ryan.  
“Don’t… don’t ever hide anything like that from me again.” Ryan mumbled into Shane’s chest.  
Shane wrapped his arms around Ryan.  
“I kinda had to.” Shane murmured. “The council won’t be pleased I revealed a heavily guarded secret to a human.”  
Ryan pulled away and looked at the taller man’s face.  
“The council? You said something about them on the phone.”  
Shane sighed and ran a hand through his hair.  
“The oldest vampires out there. They made the rules to protect vampires. And seeing how I just broke the most important rule… I feel I will be punished, even if I am next in line to be a council member.”  
“What will you do?”  
“I organised a hearing later so we can discuss whether it’d be worth it to retain all your memories of me and anything about vampirism. Of course, I could make you forget-”  
“You can erase memories?!” Ryan interrupted.  
Shane smirked.  
“I’m joking.”  
Ryan punched Shane in the arm, receiving no response from the vampire.  
“What are you going to do?” Ryan asked.  
“We’re going to have to attend that hearing. But, we’ll make a damn good case. There is no way on earth that the council will take you away from me.”  
“Are you sure?”  
Shane smiled.  
“Everything will be alright, Ryan. Have faith in me.”  
The two sat in silence for a few seconds until Ryan leaned up and gave Shane a peck on the lips. Shane could hear that Ryan’s heart was going faster than normal around Shane. He smiled, realising his hypothesis was correct.  
“In case something goes wrong.” Ryan breathed out.  
Shane chuckled.  
“I assure you, nothing will go wrong. But thanks for confirming what I figured out months ago little mouse.”  
Ryan blushed and hit Shane on the arm.  
“You dick!” He cried while Shane started laughing. “You heard my heartbeat?!”  
“What can I say? It’s a lovely sound whenever you look at me.”  
Shane winked before getting punched by Ryan once more. Shane laughed.  
“Hit as hard as you want, mouse. It’s not gonna hurt.” Shane said, giving a toothy grin.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to follow me on Tumblr, at Aussie-Bookworm!


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